


Three's a Crowd

by nebulousrk



Category: SK8 the Infinity (Anime)
Genre: Boys In Love, Friends to Lovers, Light Angst, M/M, Pining, Sexual Content, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-13 19:01:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29905629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nebulousrk/pseuds/nebulousrk
Summary: For the first time since his father’s death, Langa is happy. He’s made friends, found a new hobby that he loves, and for the first time ever, found a person who really understands him- his best friend and skating partner- Reki. As Langa is starting to figure out his feelings for Reki are stronger than just friendship, a figure from Reki’s past returns. With Reki’s childhood best friend and original skateboarding partner back in the picture, Langa is starting to feel like he doesn’t fit in anymore.
Relationships: Hasegawa Langa/Kyan Reki, Kyan Reki/Original Character(s) (past relationship)
Comments: 31
Kudos: 125





	1. Chapter 1

There had been a time, not even a year ago, when Langa thought he might never experience happiness again. That all changed the day that Reki Kyan literally skated over his head and into his life.

Reki with his infectious smile, sincere brown eyes, and easy laugh. Reki with his bright personality and his fiery passion for skateboarding. Reki who would gently bandage Langa's cuts and scrapes and who would hold on to him tightly when they rode Langa's moped. Reki who taught him to skateboard, and made him laugh, and fell asleep curled up next to him after they watched skateboarding videos until 2:00am.

Reki who helped bring color back into his world after his dad died and everything went grey.

Reki who he almost lost once before.

Their fight was long over. Apologies given and accepted by both of them. There had been confessions and tears on both ends. Langa now understood Reki's feelings of inferiority and his fear that he would lose Langa just as he had once lost his childhood best friend and first skating partner. Reki now understood how Langa had felt like an empty shell after his father's death, and how the adrenaline rush from skating was bringing some feeling of normalcy back.

Time had healed both boy's emotional wounds and they had developed an even closer bond over the past several weeks. They had promised to be open and honest with each other moving forward, and both made an effort to understand the other's feelings.

Well... most of their feelings. There was one thing that Langa didn't quite feel the need to share with Reki just yet.

_I think it's best if you were honest with your feelings._

_You like that person, right?_

Yes. He did like Reki. That was now clear to him. Langa had been slowly coming to term with his feelings for his best friend ever since that conversation with his mother. After doing some reflecting Langa had realized the things he felt for Reki went far beyond a normal friendship between two guys.

Langa had never experienced a friendship as strong as the one he had with Reki before, so it took him some time to figure out that having butterflies in your stomach when your friend smiles at you and feeling warm and excited every time your friend ruffles your hair or jumps on your back isn't exactly a platonic sensation.

Langa wasn't an idiot. He knew adolescent boys were supposed to be interested in dating and sex. He heard guys talk about which girls were hot and how far they got with their girlfriends at his old high school. Langa had never been particularly interested in any of that. He was way too awkward to ever ask a girl out on a date or to a school dance, so he never bothered. The idea never appealed to him anyways, and he never found himself checking girls out having romantic feelings towards them. Langa always just figured he was too committed to snowboarding and he'd develop feelings for girls and start dating them eventually.

It wasn't until that conversation with his mother when the obvious explanation for Langa's lack of interest in the opposite sex hit him right in the face. Langa was never going to be interested in girls. Because he was only interested in dating boys, one boy in particular.

It's not like being gay was a big deal to Langa. He had never had a problem with the LGBTQ community, and the idea of being gay didn't scare him or upset him. He even knew of a few gay students at his old high school in Canada.

His mother had been understanding and helped him work through his feelings after he accidentally came out to her. She had quickly figured out Reki was the object of his affections and encouraged him to reveal his feelings. While Langa appreciated his mother's support, he had no intention of taking her advice in this particular matter.

Langa may have fully accepted his romantic feelings towards his best friend. But he has no intention of making those feelings known. Reki had never shown the slightest inclination that he was interested in guys, and Langa had no interest in ruining his friendship over a pointless confession. Almost losing Reki once was enough for him.

The sound of skateboard wheels grinding on pavement jolted Langa from his thoughts.

“Langaaa!” he hears a voice call out.

Langa looks up and can't help but smile as his red-headed friend skates towards him. Reki is giving him his trademark grin as he slows down, holding his hand out for their customary morning high-five and fist bump.

They skate together down the sidewalk. Reki is enthusiastically recounting a video he saw the night before, while Langa listens fondly, occasionally giving a word or two in input. It's times like this that Langa is struck by just how _easy_ it is being with Reki. Langa never feels like he has to pretend to be something he's not or change himself to be more fun, or more talkative, or more interesting. Reki already thinks he's interesting. Reki doesn't mind when Langa is quiet or when he spaces out or when he doesn't know what to say. Reki likes him the way he is.

They make it to school and Langa collapses into his usual seat next to Reki, not looking forward to a grueling day of classes.

* * *

Finally after an exhausting morning filled with Japanese literature that Langa did not understand and math that went way over his head, lunch finally arrives. Langa is always starving by this time, so he quickly stands up and motions to Reki “roof?”

Reki nods his head enthusiastically, and soon the two boys are alone on the roof eating their lunch and chatting.

“Ya know. You were totally zoning out during class, dude.” says Reki. He pokes Langa in the cheek a few times. “You were practically drooling.”

Langa frowns at him. “You're no better. You were drawing the whole time. Plus, I really only spoke Japanese at home. Reading all those books is hard for me.”

“Hmmm” Reki gets a contemplative look on his face. “That's true. Well come over tonight and I'll help you with the homework. You can help me with our English homework in return.”

Langa considers this. “Will you really be helpful though?”

Reki growls at him in response. “Don't say that! You know I have good grades.” He reaches over and squishes Langa's cheeks between his two hands. “I'm a great tutor. Maybe I'll find somebody who will appreciate my help if you don't want it!”

Langa's response is muffled considering the fact that Reki hasn't let go of his face.

“What was that?” Reki laughs and drops his hands.

“I said you can help me.”

“Nope!” Reki wags his finger back and forth. “Not until you say; Reki, please help me in class. You're so smart. I need you.”

Langa fixes him with a blank stare that makes Reki crack up.

“C'mon Langa, say it. You know we have that big writing assignment due next week. There's no way you can do it on your own.”

Langa gives an exaggerated sigh. “Please Reki, help me in class.”

Reki tilts his head to the side, “aaaand...”

“and you're so smart.”

“and?”

Langa's cheeks turn slightly pink as he mutters out, “and I need you.”

Reki gives him a thumbs up, “Now that wasn't so hard was it?”

Langa chooses not to acknowledge this, and simply returns to his sandwich. This doesn't seem to deter Reki at all. He keeps up a steady stream of chatter about their classes, the latest S beef, and his ideas for further adapting Langa's skateboard to his skating style.

He pulls up pictures of his workshop on his phone and when he shows Langa his ideas, he scoots in close and puts his shoulder right up against Langa's side. He doesn't seem to notice that their thighs are touching, but that's all Langa can think about.

Casual touching like this would normally frustrate Langa with anybody else, but it's okay when it's Reki, who has always been an incredibly physical person. A character trait that Langa simultaneously reviles and appreciates right now. Feeling Reki's muscular thigh right against his own is giving him a strange feeling of giddiness. He's sitting so close to Reki that he can smell the shampoo he uses. It's making it hard to focus on the pictures Reki is swiping through.

“Langaaa!!!”

Langa snaps back to attention. “Huh?”

Reki rolls his eyes. “Are you listening to me at all? I was showing you these wheels that I thought would work really well for your specific style. Look closely. Can you see these pictures?”

Langa was not in fact listening, and did not see the wheels.

Reki rolls his eyes playfully at Langa's blank look and swings his arm up and around Langa's shoulder while he scoots in even closer. “Here. Can you see them now?”

Langa's mouth goes dry.

Reki remains undisturbed. Pointing out different pictures of wheels and commenting on different ways he thinks the wheels would improve Langa's skating. Nothing about having his arm around Langa seems to affect Reki at all.

Langa however can barely move. Being this close to Reki is doing things to his heart. They're sitting so close to each other, their faces are only a few inches away and Reki's mouth is at the perfect angle. If Langa could just slowly lean towards him and...

No. Stop. Langa immediately cuts that thought off. There's no point in going there.

He notices Reki looking at him with a mildly concerned expression on his face. “You okay, man? You seem even more spaced out than usual today?”

Shit! Reki noticed. Langa awkwardly clears his throat. “I'm hungry. Can I have the rest of your Bento?”

Reki looks at him for a beat before cracking up. “I shoulda known you were just hungry. You're always hungry. I don't know how you stay so thin.” He hands his half-eaten lunch over to Langa.

“Thank you” Langa mumbles before taking a giant bite of rice.

Reki fixes him with a giant grin and chuckles fondly, “You're ridiculous.”

He still hasn't moved his arm from around Langa's shoulder, and he teasingly squeezes him while he watches Langa finish off the rest of his lunch. When Langa finishes, Reki moves his arm and stands up.

“Guess it's time to head back to class” Reki says. Reaching his hand down, he pulls Langa to his feet. “So after school today we can skateboard for a little bit and then work on our homework. You can eat dinner at my place if it's okay with your mom. And later on, we'll head to S. Sound good?”

“Sounds great” Langa answers.

After all this time, Langa still isn't used to the idea that somebody actually _wants_ to hang out with him. That Reki legitimately likes him. Reki wants to eat lunch with him, and wants to skateboard with him. He wants to invite Langa to the beach and text Langa when he's bored during his shifts at Dope Sketch. He wants to see movies with Langa and spend weekends chilling and playing video games.

Even before his father died, Langa wasn't great at making friends. It's not like he was a total loner back in his school in Canada. He had a few people he would sit with at lunch or partner up with during group-work. He's just always had such a hard time expressing his emotions, and his dry sense of humor wasn't well received. While he had plenty of acquaintances, he never felt like he had any true friends. Not until Reki had he met somebody who got him so completely. Somebody with whom he doesn't have to worry about being himself with. Somebody who is excited to walk to school with him and makes sure to meet up every morning.

Langa thinks about Reki casually throwing his arm around him. About Reki squishing his cheeks and messing his hair up About Reki jumping on him in excitement whenever Langa pulls off a new trick. He thinks about their special handshake, and Reki confiding in him that he was scared Langa would leave him behind. He thinks about how his heart beats so loudly when Reki watches him skate.

It's enough. Reki didn't need to return his crush. He doesn't need to kiss Reki or take him on dates. He doesn't need Reki to be his boyfriend. Because being close to him like he is now, being his friend. Seeing him smile and making him laugh. Looking into his brown eyes, wide with excitement. Just being near him. Sitting on the roof and eating lunch together. That's all he needs. That's enough for Langa.

* * *

“Shhh” Reki puts his finger to his lips. “All my sisters are sleeping, so make sure to keep it down.”

Langa nods in affirmation. He's had enough experience sneaking into Reki's house after a late night at S that he knows the drill by now. Reki quietly closes the front door behind him, and they creep down the hallway and into Reki's room.

Reki groans as he collapses on his bed. “I'm exhausted!”

“Same,” Langa nods in agreement. After school he and Reki had skateboarded for a few hours and finished up their homework. They ate dinner at the Kyan household, which was a loud and enthusiastic affair as always, before hitting up S.

“You hungry?” asks Reki.

“I'm always hungry.”

Reki laughs. “I know. You can't go to the kitchen because you'll wake up the twins. But here. I'm used to you wanting food after S, so I started keeping snacks in here for you. Chips or Pocky?”

He pulls out both from under his bed and offers them up to Langa. Langa considers carefully before picking the chips. “Thanks.”

“No problem!” chirps out Reki. “Otherwise your stomach growling would keep me up all night.”

Langa rolls his eyes, but can't help but once again be struck by just how kind Reki is- from building him a skateboard from scratch to keeping his favorite chips on hand. It's second nature for Reki to think about other people.

“I'm going to take a shower first if that's okay. Pick out some games for us.” Reki says as he heads out of the room.

Langa busies himself with shifting through Reki's video game collection. He picks out a racing game and starts playing, getting so involved in the game that he doesn't hear Reki come back in until he hears his voice.

“Shower's all yours.”

Langa turns his head and immediately feels his brain has turn into mush. Reki is in a towel. _Just_ a towel. His hair is wet and falls down and frames his face since he's missing his signature headband. And if that wasn't distracting enough, his towel is wrapped around his hips and Reki is holding it up with one hand. _Barely_ holding it up with one hand. If he let it go just a few more inches...

“Bro, are you going to shower?” Reki waves his hand in Langa's face.

“Ye-yeah.”

Reki just stares at him and tilts his head to the side. “Well are you going?”

“Ye-ah, sh-shower. Shower now.”

Reki chuckles. “You weirdo. Hurry up, so we can play together a little bit before going to sleep.” He turns around and starts digging through his drawer. Langa jumps up and evacuates the room as quickly as possible, grabbing his overnight bag on the way out. He knows there is no way he can be in the same room when Reki puts his own pajamas on. His brain will completely shut down if that towel comes off.

Get it together, he thinks to himself as he steps into the cold shower. Friends don't stare at friends wearing towels. They definitely don't check out their chest muscles. Or their abs. Or their shoulders. Or their backs. Or imagine drying their hair off. Or think about specific parts of their body that are hidden under said towel.

Langa focuses on scrubbing his hair while he tries to purge the image of a dripping wet Reki out of his mind. Sometimes he wishes he hadn't figured out his feelings for his friend. At this point they would never be able to take another beach trip together without his head exploding.

Langa finishes up his shower and brushes his teeth. “Get it together” he whispers to himself in the mirror. “This is your best friend. Act normal. You got this.”

Twenty-five minutes later and he does not got this. Langa forgot that 'normal' for Reki involves both of them sitting on his bed, shoulder to shoulder with Reki touching him in casual ways. Reki has already tackled him to steal the game controller to prevent him from winning. Not that he needed to. Being here in Reki's bed, surrounded by Reki's scent is doing enough to distract Langa from the game as is. After Langa falls off Rainbow Road for the tenth time, Reki takes that as a sign that it's time for bed and unrolls the futon.

Langa is settling in next to Reki's bed while Reki sets the alarm. “I don't work until 10:00 tomorrow, how about you?”

“Hmmm. I don't need to go in until 12:00 I think,” Langa replies.

“Cool. We can sleep in.”

Reki yawns loudly and stretches out. “Goodnight, Langa. Sweet dreams.”

Langa smiles fondly at Reki's sleepy voice. Having Reki say goodnight to him, getting to lay here while they fall asleep at the same time and then waking up and eating breakfast together. Spending the weekend together as friends. It's enough for him.

“Goodnight, Reki.”


	2. Chapter 2

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Langa groans and rolls over on the futon. “Turn it off” he mumbles incoherently.

The beeping continues.

“Rekiii, turn off your phone.”

No response.

Langa groans and opens his eyes. He looks towards Reki's bed and sees it's empty save for his cellphone. Reki must already be up and eating breakfast . For the life of him, Langa cannot figure out how any human being could wake up before noon without an alarm.

He changes into his clothes and stumbles into the Kyan's kitchen. Langa's woken up here enough times that the pandemonium unfolding feels familiar to him now.

Reki's mom is standing at the stove and appears to be making pancakes for the family. Reki's dad has one of the twins on his lap (Langa still can't tell which one is which) and is trying and failing to keep her from getting covered with syrup.

The other twin is sitting on the ground and clinging to Reki's leg while he is standing at the counter and chopping up strawberries. He seems passionately involved in an argument with his middle sister regarding said strawberry chopping skills.

Langa stands there for a moment observing the scene in front of him. It's noisy and chaotic and full of energy. Breakfasts as his house tend to be a more reserved affair. His mom is usually at work by the time he wakes up, so he'll grab himself a protein shake or make some toast. Even during weekends they just sit and chat quietly with their cereal. It's never quite the... event... it is at the Kyan's.

But between Reki, his parents, and his three sisters Langa has gotten used to breakfasts being loud and busy. He definitely felt awkward the first few times, but Reki's whole family is as warm and welcoming as they are noisy, so it's grown on him. Now he feels happy to be included.

“Oh, good morning Langa” calls out Reki's mom when she notices him. “We're having pancakes today. I'll make you a big stack.”

“Thank you, Ms. Kyan.”

“Hey, hey. Look who's up. Nice of you to join us Sleeping Beauty.” Reki pauses mid-chop to fist bump Langa.

Langa lives up to the nickname, being struck by a sudden yawn. “Not everybody is a morning person like you, Reki.”

“Yeah, yeah. Want something to drink?” Reki asks.

“Orange juice would be good.”

“Cool.” He turns towards his sister, “Tsukihi, go make yourself useful and pour Langa a glass of OJ.”

“Ehhh? Why should _I_ have to get _your_ boyfriend juice. Do it yourself!”

Reki's face turns red and Langa immediately busies himself with examining the buttons on his shirt and acting like he didn't hear anything.

“He's not my boyfriend, dummy.” Reki snaps at Tsukihi. “He's our guest, so you should be polite and offer him a drink.”

“Hmmph” she tosses her hair over her shoulder, “I think spending four out of seven days a week here means he isn't really a guest anymore.” Despite her words, she heads to the refrigerator and pours Langa a glass of juice.

Langa sits down at the table and politely thanks her.

“Yeah, yeah. I'm only doing it because I want to make sure you to keep sticking around for breakfast. My brother got all sad and mopey when you two were fighting.”

She sits down next to him and offers him a mischievous grin.

Langa doesn't quite now how to respond to that, so he compensates by taking a giant gulp of juice and subsequently choking on it.

He's still wheezing, when Reki comes up behind him and pounds him on the back a few times. “Careful man, don't die on me here.”

“I'm- okay” he chokes out between coughs.

Reki pulls out the chair next to him and gives him a concerned look, but doesn't have the chance to say anything before Ms. Kyan places a huge platter of pancakes in front of them. “Breakfast is served. We have strawberries and blueberries for toppings. Syrup and butter are already on the table.”

“Thanks, mom”

“Thanks, mom”

“Thank you, dear.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Kyan.”

Langa digs into his pancakes and relaxes with a contented look on his face while he listens to the chatting around him.

He laughs when Reki's dad asks him if he's going for the pancake eating world record and listens to Reki's mom chatter away about the soap opera she's been watching. He doesn't even mind when the twin on Mr. Kyan's lap reaches over and grabs at Langa with a sticky hand.

“Ahhh, thanks mom.” Reki gives him mom a thumbs up. “That was great as usual.”

He turns to Langa, “I've got about 45 minutes before work so I'm going to get ready to go. What are you doing until your shift?”

“I'm going to head home and check in with my mom, but I'll see you at Dope in a couple hours.”

A few minutes later Reki is cheerfully high-fiving Langa out the door and promising to see him at work.

* * *

Langa scrolls through social media on his phone, liking a few posts from Miya and Shadow, trying to kill time before work. He knows he should be trying to get ahead on his homework, but he just can't find the motivation right now.

He hears the front door open and his mom come into the apartment.

“Hey, mom.”

“Hi, honey. Come help me with the groceries.”

Langa starts putting away food while his mom checks in with him about school and work.

“So what time do you go in today?”

Langa glances at his watch, “in about an hour.”

His mom give him a knowing smile, “and what are you up to after work? Hanging out with Reki?”

Langa tries to force a casual tone of voice. “Yeah, probably. We might go to the skate-park.”

“Oh. That's nice.”

Langa ignores the hint of teasing in his mom's voice and noncommittally hums in response.

“You stayed over last night and again tonight? You boys sure spend a lot of time together.”

Langa doesn't reply, but his mom soldiers on. “Reki certainly seems to enjoy having you over.”

“I guess.”

His mom pats his back, “Reki obviously enjoys spending time with you. I don't think he would take your feelings badly if you decided to share them.”

Langa puts his hand over his face. He and his mother have had a few variations of this conversation and each is more embarrassing than the one before it.

“Mom. It's not like that.”

“If you say so.”

“Reki isn't... Reki isn't into me like that.” Langa makes sure to keep his voice steady. He knows Reki doesn't feel anything other than platonic feelings towards him. He has already accepted that, but it doesn't mean he doesn't feel the slightest twinge of pain when he says it out loud.

His mom doesn't respond, she just pats him sympathetically on the shoulder. “Will you be here for dinner tonight?”

Langa inwardly thanks his mom for changing the subject. “I'm not sure yet. I might still be out skateboarding.” He makes a point not to mention Reki's name.

“Okay, well let me know if you're going to be sleeping somewhere else,” she says. “And you know that Reki is always welcome to hang out here.”

“I know.” Reki had come by his place a few times, but they tended to hang out at Reki's more often than not. Langa tried to justify it by the fact that Reki's house was more convenient and closer to school and the park. Plus they often need access to Reki's workshop and tools.

Though if he's being honest with himself, he would feel awkward having Reki stay over at his house. The chaos and noise at Reki's house is protective in a way. It keeps things from feeling too intimate between them.

Langa's mom is always working long hours at the hospital and often get unexpectedly called in, which means Reki and Langa would be all alone at the apartment, with no chance of interruptions from parents or little sisters. The implications make him nervous. Plus the idea of Reki hanging out in his bed makes him feel strange. Every time he slept in his bed he wouldn't be able to stop thinking about it.

His phone chimes and he swipes up to read the messages from Reki.

_Guess what??!!_

_Something cool happened at work!_

_Get here and I'll tell you_

_:) :) :)_

Wonder what that's about, Langa thinks to himself. He decides he might as well head to work now. If Reki says something is cool, than Langa is excited. Reki rarely steers them wrong. He changes into his work shirt, scarfs down a quick bowl of cereal to hold him over, grabs his board and heads out.

* * *

The bell chimes as he pushes open the door to Dope Sketch. He glances around the small shop and sees Reki standing at the counter chatting with somebody. Chatting with somebody very enthusiastically. He's laughing and has his hand on the shoulder of some guy.

Langa stands awkwardly at the front of the store. He's used to Reki immediately noticing him and enthusiastically bringing him into the conversation, but Reki seems very engaged with his current conversation partner and hasn't looked his way once.

Langa shifts back and forth on his feet. Should he say something? Is it a customer? He doesn't want to interrupt a sales transaction, but the way Reki is leaning close to the guy seems friendlier than a customer.

As if sensing his presence, Oka calls out to him from behind the shelf he's rearranging. “Hey there, you're here early.”

Reki turns around. “Langa!”

At least he seems as enthusiastic as ever now that he's actually noticed me, Langa thinks to himself. He shyly makes his way over to Reki and the stranger. Upon closer inspection the guy looks to be about their same age. His reddish-brown hair is pulled back into a ponytail, and he has several piercings, including one in his eyebrow.

He looks Langa over, “So this is the famous _Snow,_ huh. I've heard all about you.”

“Oh” Langa isn't quite sure how to respond to him. He looks over at Reki hoping for some clarification.

Reki throws his arm around Langa's shoulders. “Remember how I told you about my friend. The one who got me into skating in the first place.”

Langa nods.

“Well... This is him. He's back in town. Isn't that awesome??!!”

Reki's eyes are so big and sparkly and his voice is so filled with zeal that Langa can't see any other option than to agree. “Yeah... awesome.”

Reki grins and unwraps his arm from Langa. “Langa, meet my childhood best friend, Tasuku and Tasuku meet Langa.”

Tasuku reaches out his hand, “Nice to meet you.”

Langa returns the handshake uncertainly. Something about Tasuku being introduced as Reki's best friend and Langa being introduced by only his name is making him feel a little off.

“I'm glad somebody's been looking out for Reki,” Tasuku reaches up and ruffles Reki's hair. “He has a tendency to get into trouble on his own,”

“Hey” Reki growls out jumping on Tasuku and grabbing his shirt. “I don't need a caretaker. Don't say stuff like that!”

“Okay, okay” Tasuku laughs, grabbing Reki's wrists. “My bad.”

He turns to Langa, “so I hear you're a pretty talented skateboarder?”

Langa is saved from having to answer by Reki bellowing out “Yeah, Langa's awesome! He learned to ollie in just two weeks. You have to come see him skate sometime.”

Langa feels like he should at least attempt to participate in the conversation. “Do you still skateboard?”

Tasuku rubs at his neck, “Nahh. Not anymore. I'm not sure how much Reki told you about me, but I had some pretty bad injuries and it sort of scared me off skating permanently. I still like to watch though.”

“Oh, sorry...”

Tasuku shrugs at Langa. “It's no big deal, man. People change and get new hobbies and whatever. I don't have any lasting physical issues, so I feel pretty lucky.”

Reki sighs, and Langa can't help but notice that his eyes of lost some of his sparkle and his mouth is starting to droop into a frown.

Tasuku clearly notices Reki's facial expression as well because he rolls his eyes and pinches Reki's side.

“Ouch” Reki squeals.

“Don't look like that at me with those puppy dog eyes. It's not a big deal.” He turns to Langa, “Reki still feels bad about everything and always wanted me to get back into skating.”

Reki rubs at his side, “I don't feel bad anymore, I understand why you stopped. I just think you were good at it. You were the one who got me into skating in the first place after all.”

Tasuku laughs loudly. “Got you into it is one way to put it. More like forced you into it!”

He turns to Langa and stage whispers “he was totally scared of it at first.”

“Oh shut up!” Reki snapped and starts to poke Tasuku in the chest. “ I wasn't that scared.”

Langa watches the playful bickering unfold in front of him, feeling a little bit like a third wheel. It's not just that Reki and Tasuku have such an easy repertoire with each other. Watching Reki jump all over somebody else is making Langa feel peculiar. He isn't really sure why, he's used to Reki's physical tendencies by now; Reki is extremely tactile with everybody. Langa once saw him hug Miya so hard that he picked him up off his feet. Of course he would act that way with his childhood friend.

Langa shakes his head and clears his throat to remind the two of them that he's still standing there. This seems to work because Tasuku and Reki stop their tussle.

“Okay. This was fun, but I have some errands to run, so I need to get going.” Tasuku says.

Langa perks up a little at this, but Reki looks slightly downcast.

“What time do you get off, Reki” Tasuku asks.

Reki glances at his phone, “not for another three hours.”

“That's no problem. Can we grab coffee or ice cream or something after you're done with work? I have some things I need to say to you.”

Reki nods in agreement, “Sure. So I'll see you later. We an meet up at the coffee place down the street?”

“Works for me. Reki, I will see you later. Langa, it was great to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.”

Langa waits until the door shuts behind Tasuku, and tries to force a casual tone “So, what was that about?”

Reki turns towards him chewing on his bottom lip and crosses his arms. “To be honest, I don't really know. We haven't even spoken to each other in years. He just shows up out of nowhere and says he's back in town.”

“He taught you how to skateboard?” Langa keeps his voice even.

Reki smiles fondly. “Right. He was my neighbor and we basically grew up together through elementary and middle school. We were best friends and- well, after he got hurt really badly we had kind of a falling out. He quit skateboarding and some other stuff happened. We stopped talking and a few months after that his dad got a new job in Kyoto, and he moved with him. I haven't heard from him for a couple years.”

“Did he just move back?”

“Nah, he's actually a year above us, so he's in college now. He said he's visiting his mom for a little bit in between semesters and he wanted to see me, so he tracked me down at work. He actually apologized for everything that happened between us.”

“That's nice,” Langa forces out.

Reki shrugs. “I guess so. It's pretty surreal. But it's a good thing, right? I mean he was a big part of my life.”

Langa forces himself to agree, “Yeah, it's good.”

The sunny smile Reki gives him almost makes his agreement worth it.

“We'll grab coffee and I'll figure it out with him. I'm happy though. I'm glad to see him again.”

Their conversation is interrupted by Oka yelling at them to stop chatting already, and calling Langa over to straighten up the shelves. They stay pretty busy until it's time for Reki to head out.

“I'll text you later” Reki says as he gives Langa a fist-bump on the way out.

“Cool” Langa nods. The shop is fairly slow, so Langa has some time to process his feelings about Reki and Tasuku. Langa knows he should feel happy for Reki. From the little Reki has told him about his friend and skateboarding influence, they were really close and his injury and the subsequent end of their friendship had impacted Reki. Reki seems confused, but legitimately happy about his friend returning.

Anyways, Langa thinks to himself, it's just a few weeks and then the guy will be gone. He regrets that horrible thought as soon as he thinks it. There's nothing wrong with Reki having other friends. Reki isn't like Langa. He's friendly and outgoing and draws people towards him. Despite all that, he still chooses to spend the most time with Reki. He could eat lunch with any of his friends, but he still picks to hang out with Langa on the roof every afternoon. Langa feels slightly cheered by that and gets through the rest of the shift with no issues.

He's sweeping up the shop when his phone buzzes. He swipes up and smiles fondly- Reki of course.

_Come over for dinner tonight!_

_My mom is cooking a big meal._

Langa types back

_Sure. Be there when I'm done here._

He smiles when Reki responds with a series of smiling faces and thumbs up emojis. Though his smile falls slightly when he reads the next text that comes through.

_Tasuku is coming too!_

Fantastic.

* * *

“Excuse me for intruding.” Langa calls out as he takes off his shoes in the Kyan's front hall. He can already smell something delicious cooking.

Hey, Langa, come on in” calls out Reki's mom. Reki's out back in his workshop. “Food will be ready in about 30 minutes.”

Langa thanks her politely and heads to the workshop where he finds Reki completely focused on the skateboard and tools in front of him. Langa stands quietly and watches for a moment. There's something that he likes about seeing Reki like this. Reki is always so enthusiastic and loud, that there's something special about these quiet moments when Reki is completely absorbed with his workshop or drawing in his sketchbook.

He coughs lightly and Reki waves him over without turning around. “Look at this- I'm trying to figure out a new skateboard design for Miya. He does all those street tricks. I think this base could really help him.”

Langa looks over what Reki is working on. “That's cool. I'm sure Miya will pretend he doesn't like it, but will totally use it.”

Reki laughs so hard that he's holding his sides. “That's exactly how it'll go down!”

Langa smiles at Reki's reaction. Sometimes he doesn't know what Reki gets out of their friendship, but making Reki laugh always makes him feel like he's doing something right.

Speaking of friendships, Langa might as well ask. “How was getting coffee with Tasuku?”

“It actually went really well. We caught up, and worked through some things that we needed to work through. We're kind of repairing our relationship I guess. There was a lot we both had to say...” his voice trails off.

Langa can tell that something is bothering Reki, so he waits it out.

“Him getting hurt and cutting me out was really hard. Then he moved away and we never really got closure. It's why I was so worried about you when I thought Adam would hurt you. I didn't want another, um, best-friend to cut me off.” Reki is avoiding Langa's eyes.

Langa looks at the ground. “I won't quit skateboarding. I won't... leave you either.”

There's a brief silence between the two boys and Langa isn't sure if he's imagining the slightly pink flush on Reki's face.

The awkwardness is interrupted by Langa's mom calling to them “Reki, Tasuku is here!”

“Coming mom!”

When Langa and Reki enter the kitchen, Tasuku has already made himself comfortable with Reki's family. He's holding one of the twins and cheerfully chatting with Reki's mom.

“Hey, guys. Thank you for having me over,” he says.

“Reki, I'm so excited that you and Tasuku have reconnected.” says Mrs. Kyan. “It's great to see you two boys together again!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Reki rubs his hand behind his head awkwardly.

Mrs. Kyan turns towards Langa, “These two were inseparable when they were younger. Tasuku was practically a part of our family. We were all so scared when he got hurt and ended up in the hospital.”

“Don't worry about me,” Tasuku laughs. “I'm totally fine now. I'm glad to be back in this house.”

“Tasuku!!” shouts out a loud voice. Tsukihi runs full force into the kitchen and throws herself at Tasuku. He laughs and gives her a one armed hug.

“Hey kiddo,” he says, “I can't believe how grown up you are now!”

He lets her out of the hug and starts an elaborate handshake ritual with her. “It's good to see my favorite Kyan again.”

She laughs and sticks her tongue out at Reki. “I'm his favorite. Jealous?”

Reki rolls his eyes chuckles affably. “You two catch up, Langa help me set the table.”

Langa and Reki busy themselves with putting out the appropriate amount of plates, glasses, and silverware.

“So Tasuku is really close to your family, huh?” Langa questions.

“Huh? Oh yeah- he basically grew up down the street and his parents worked a lot, so he was over here all the time even though he was a year ahead of me.”

Langa nods in acknowledgment. So Tasuku was not only close to Reki, but also close to his whole family. He couldn't help noticing how easily he talked with Reki's mom or the fact that Tsukihi had practically jumped on him. Reki's sister had never responded to _him_ that way. Sure she was always polite and friendly in that playful way that characterized the entire Kyan family, but she certainly had never expressed the same level of enthusiasm at seeing Langa.

Langa shakes his head to clear his head of those thoughts. What is wrong with him. Why does he care that Reki's sister wasn't as happy to see him as Tasuku. What a weird thing to focus on.

Dinner was delicious as always, and Langa ate his fill- the entire Kyan family making fun of him for eating twice as much as everybody else. After Reki's mom and dad waved away their offers to help with dishes, Langa found himself with Reki and Tasuku in Reki's bedroom; Langa and Reki laying on the carpet flipping through skateboarding magazines, while Tasuku shifted around the room, looking through Reki's piles of stuff.

He pulls out three nearly identical sweatshirts from Reki's closet and starts to laugh. “Reki, it's good to know that your style hasn't changed at all in the past two years. Are you ever going to grow out of these tacky sweatshirts?”

“Ehh” Reki snaps back, “you think you're so stylish now just because you have an eyebrow piercing. Just a reminder you had a bowl cut until you were sixteen!”

Tasuku holds up his hands in surrender. “That was an unfortunate oversight. My mom convinced me it made me look handsome.”

“Well it definitely didn't.”

“Liar,” Tasuku laughs. “This coming from the guy who died his hair green.”

He sits on the ground next to Reki and digs his fist into Reki's head. “Langa, when we were twelve this guy dyed his hair green for a costume and he didn't know the dye was actually permanent. He was growing it out for months after that.”

Reki reacts with immediate offense and tries to roll over to grab at Tasuku who avoids him and grabs both his wrists holding them together. He immediately starts to tickle Reki on his sides.

“Still ticklish in the same spots, huh?” Tasuku is not relenting as Reki writhes in laughter on the ground.

“Okay, okay, I give up.”

Reki has tears of laughter in the corners of his eyes as he is finally let go.

“You jerk” Reki says but his tone is playful. “C'mon let's see if I can still kick your ass at Mario Kart.”

He distributes controllers to Langa and Tasuku, and the three boys settle in to play. Langa doesn't say much during the game. Reki is as cheerful as ever, chatting with both boys with rampant enthusiasm and happily carrying the bulk of the conversation. Tasuku is very friendly and polite. He asks Langa questions about Canada and about skateboarding, and compliments him on his video game skills. There is absolutely no logical reason why Langa should dislike him.

But Langa does dislike him.

Every time Tasuku touches Reki, Langa feels a small fire burning in his chest. Despite not talking for several years, the boys seem completely at ease with each other. Reki is his usual physical self: leaning into both boys, poking them and pinching them. The difference is Tasuku seems to feel comfortable returning all of Reki's touches in a way that Langa never could.

Langa desperately tries to delete the memory of Tasuku tickling Reki on the ground from his brain. Reki has tickled Langa plenty of times. It doesn't mean anything. It just felt weird to see somebody responding to Reki's touches with their own.

Could Langa do something like that? Lean over Reki and tickle his sides in a playful way. Put his hands on Reki's body until he's laughing. Possibly reach his hands under Reki's shirt to feel his bare skin. Langa's face immediately flushes at the thought. No way. Langa would never feel confident enough to do that. Now that Langa is aware of his romantic feelings, he would feel awkward purposefully touching Reki.

Langa attempts to focus on the game in front of him to rid himself of those intrusive thoughts. We're friends he tells himself. He's lucky to have this friendship with Reki. Guys don't spend several minutes thinking about tickling their friends. Reki and Tasuku are straight, so it isn't a big deal for them. There's no reason to dwell on this at all.

He manages to keep his inappropriate thoughts at bay for the next few hours of gaming. He doesn't even look at Reki when he loudly groans and stretches his arms above his head, showing off a sliver of skin below his shirt. Well he doesn't look that closely anyways.

“I'm beat.” Reki yawns.

“Me too” Langa agrees, putting down his controller.

“Tasuku, are you heading home or staying here?”

“I'm too tired to head home. You cool if I stay with you, Reki?”

Reki grins, “No problem, man. It'll be just like old times.”

“Well, not exactly like old times.” Tasuku says in a teasing tone.

“Shut up,” snaps Reki. For some reason his ears are red. He glances at Langa and quickly turns away. Tasuku seems to pick up on Reki's embarrassment and shoots him an apologetic look before changing the subject to what time they should wake up in the morning.

Langa isn't exactly sure how to read the interaction that just happened, so he volunteers to take the first shower.

When he comes back from the bathroom, Reki has already set up the guest futon, and Tasuku is lounging comfortably on it. He nods towards Langa, “I'll take the futon, if that's cool.”

“Oh, um, sure.” Langa says. Reki doesn't say anything in disagreement, so Langa assumes the decision has been made. Does this mean he needs to head home? There's not a spot for him to sleep, and Tasuku has clearly staked his claim on the futon. Langa feels disappointment curl in his stomach. That's it then. There's not another futon, so he guesses that he's been chosen as the one who needs to head home. Reki probably wants to spend more time with Tasuku alone. Langa tries not to let the disappointment show on his face.

“I guess I can head out-” he starts to say.

“We can share the bed-” Reki says at the same time.

They both stare at each other.

“Er. I mean- um” Langa says, painfully aware of his complete lack eloquence.

“Oh” Reki waves his hands around frantically. “You can go if you need to, but I was going to offer to share my bed. Ya know since Tasuku is on the futon. But we don't have to if you're uncomfortable with it...”

Langa looks back and forth from Reki to the bed a few times. His brain needs to catch up to the conversation that is happening. Reki... is offering to share the bed, purposefully? Once or twice they had accidentally fallen asleep next to each other for a couple of hours at most, but _choosing_ to sleep together is a bit unprecedented.

“It's fine.” Langa manages to choke out. “I mean- I don't care. We can share. It's not a big deal.”

“Oh, cool.” Reki says. “I'll go shower and get ready for bed. Make yourself comfortable.”

Reki scurries out of the bedroom at record speed, which gives Langa a moment to process what's about to happen. He's going to sleep in the same bed as Reki. The same _small_ bed as Reki. All night.

This is either Langa's best idea or his worst idea. Probably worst.

He takes a shaky breath and climbs into the bed. This is fine, he thinks to himself. He's been in this bed hundreds of time. Sure he's usually _sitting_ in the bed, while Reki shows him videos or the play games. But this is basically the same concept. He's just lying in the bed, under the covers, on Reki's pillows. No problem at all. He's just a guy sleeping in his friend's bed. So what if the entire bed smells like Reki.

“Sorry I just kind of claimed the futon without asking.” Says Tasuku.

Langa blinks in surpise, “Oh. It's fine.”

“I just think it would be weird for me and Reki to share the bed, considering everything.”

Langa isn't sure what exactly Tasuku is referring to. Does he mean the falling out they had? He clears his throat. “I don't mind sharing. It's fine.”

Tasuku chuckles, “You might regret that. Reki is basically a barnacle when he sleeps. He's a hardcore clinger. And once he latches on, he won't let go.”

Oh. Langa flushes at the thought of Reki clinging on to him in his sleep.

Langa is saved from having to respond when Reki loudly enters the room, already in his pajamas. “What are you guys talking about?” he asks suspiciously.

“You.” Langa deadpans.

“Specifically, how clingy you are when you sleep.” Tasuku adds on. He turns to Langa, “He's also a human space heater. Basically the worst combination to share a bed with.”

Reki kicks at Tasuku as he walks towards the bed, “Shut up.” He looks at Langa, “I usually sleep on the left side, if that's cool with you.”

“S-sure” Langa says nervously.

Reki pauses for a moment before flipping the light-switch and climbing into the bed. Langa feels the bed dip with his weight, and he focuses on keeping his breathing even as Reki settles in under the covers.

“Comfortable?” Reki asks.

“Oh. Yes. I'm fine.”

“Cool,” Reki says quietly. “Well goodnight, guys.”

“Goodnight” Tasuku replies, his voice indicating he is already drifting off to sleep.

Langa feels Reki shift to face him. In the dark he can't make out the features of his face, but he can hear Reki breathing softly. Langa turns, so he's laying on his back. His arms are awkwardly stiff next to his sides, but he isn't sure what to do with them. He focuses on keeping his body perfectly still, so he doesn't encroach into Reki's space.

This is fine. He can handle this. He just has to make sure he sleeps without moving, so he doesn't do anything embarrassing. As long as he can maintain the few inches of space between them, there's no problem.

“Langa” he hears Reki whisper. His breath is hot in his ear.

Langa can only hum in response.

“Are you okay?”

Truthfully Langa has never been less okay in his life, but he decides not to share that information with Reki. “Mmmhm” he manages to sputter out.

“Just checking, you seem kind of stiff.”

“M' good. Just sleepy is all.” Langa lies.

“Oh okay. Same.” Reki punctuates his sentence with a yawn. “Sweet dreams, Langa.”

“Goodnight, Reki.” Langa replies softly. He listens to Reki's breathing even out, and soon he can tell that Reki has fallen asleep. Judging by the snoring coming from the futon below, Langa is the only one in the room still awake.

He shifts slightly, trying to get comfortable. Maintaining this corpse-like position all night may not be realistic, but that's better than trying to turn on his side, and ending up accidentally spooning Reki. He's not sure he could live that one down.

Still, Langa thinks to himself. Despite the fact that Reki didn't dry his hair properly after his shower and has manged to somehow get both of their pillows damp, this isn't the worst way to sleep. It's sort of nice sharing a bed with his friend like this. Maybe they can keep doing this, even when it's just the two of them. Reki obviously doesn't think it's a strange thing for two platonic friends to do.

Reki shifts closer in his sleep and nuzzles his head into Langa's shoulder. Langa can feel the heat coming off Reki's body and hear him take long, slow breaths. Soon he feels his own eyelids get heavy and he drops off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bed sharing! One of my favorite fanfiction tropes. Again, thank you for reading! I'm really pleased with the reception the first chapter got. I only just got into writing fanfiction, so I'm always looking for ways to improve. Writing for fun is something I haven't done in years, so if you have any suggestions or notes, I'm happy to hear them. 
> 
> The next chapter won't be out as quickly, but I'll do my best. Especially because there's no new episode this week :(
> 
> I know we don't have an official name for Reki's friend yet, so I just named him after Reki's voice actor. If we ever get the canon name, I'll go back and change it.


End file.
